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64-627: (Redirected from Emperor Gaozong ) Gaozong (Chinese: 高宗 ) is the temple name of several Chinese monarchs: Emperor Yuan of Han (reign 49 BC – 33 BC) Emperor Gaozong of Tang (reign 649–683) Emperor Gaozong of Song (reign 1127–1162) Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty (reign 1735–1799) Wu Ding of the Shang dynasty (reign: 1250 – 1192 BC) See also [ edit ] Gojong (disambiguation) (Korean romanization) Topics referred to by

128-636: A "son-in-law of Han". In response, Emperor Yuan gave him five ladies in waiting as a reward, and one of them was the beautiful Wang Zhaojun . Impressed that Emperor Yuan gave him the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen, Huhanye offered to have his forces serve as the northern defence forces for Han, a proposal that Emperor Yuan rejected as ill-advised, but the relationship between Han and Xiongnu thereafter grew stronger. Emperor Yuan had two favourite concubines in addition to Empress Wang, Consort Fu ( 傅昭儀 ) and Consort Feng Yuan ( 馮昭儀 ), each of whom bore him one son. Empress Wang apparently tried to maintain

192-633: A conspiracy to get the emperor deposed of. The conspiracy was discovered, and the entire Huo clan was executed by Emperor Xuan. Empress Huo was striped of all her titles but not executed, Emperor Xuan decided 12 years later that he wanted her to be exiled, in response, she committed suicide. What Empress Huo tried to do influenced Emperor Xuan in his choice of the next Emperess. At the time, his favoured consorts were consorts Hua, consorts Zhang, and consorts Wei, each of whom he had children with. He almost settled on Consort Zhang as his new empress. However, he hesitated, remembering how Empress Huo had tried to murder

256-579: A cordial relationship with both, and she was largely successful, at least as far as Consort Feng was concerned. However, a struggle between Empress Wang and Consort Fu for their sons' heir status erupted. As Crown Prince Ao grew older, Emperor Yuan became increasingly unhappy with his fitness as imperial heir and impressed with Consort Fu's son, Prince Kang of Dingtao ( 山陽王劉康 ). Several incidents led to this situation. One happened in 35 BC, when Emperor Yuan's youngest brother Prince Liu Jing of Zhongshan ( 中山王劉竟 ) died. Emperor Yuan became angry because he felt that

320-469: A factional schism developed, a phenomenon that would plague his entire reign and cause officials to concentrate on infighting rather than effective governance. One faction included mainly Confucian scholars, his teachers, Xiao and Zhou, aligned with an imperial clan member who was also a Confucian scholar, Liu Gengsheng (劉更生, later named Liu Xiang 劉向), and imperial assistant Jin Chang ( 金敞 ). The other faction

384-505: A foreign king was thoroughly unjustified, particularly in the method it was carried out—using jewels as bait. Other historians believed that Angui should be punished for his failure to submit.) In 74 BC, Emperor Zhao died without a son, and this would lead to a succession problem. After a short duration in which the unsuitable Prince He of Changyi became emperor, the throne was finally given to Emperor Zhao's grandnephew, former Crown Prince Ju 's grandson, Liu Bingyi ( 劉病已 ), who would ascend

448-624: A good heir. Liu Dan, the Prince of Yan, was Emperor Wu's oldest surviving son, but Emperor Wu considered both he and his younger brother, Liu Xu, the Prince of Guangling, to be unsuitable, since neither respected the laws of the land. Liu Bo, Lady Li 's son, had consort kin in the form of his uncle Li Guangli . In any case, before Emperor Wu's death, Li Guangli would surrender to the Xiongnu, while Liu Bo predeceased his father. Left with no other options, he decided on his youngest son, Prince Fuling, who

512-549: A highly honoured part; it was not until several decades later that Confucians began to disfavour fortune telling.) Jing, who had become a trusted advisor of Emperor Yuan after Emperor Yuan greatly favoured his proposed system for examining and promoting regional officials, accused Shi and Shi's assistant Wulu Chongzong ( 五鹿充宗 ) of being corrupt and evil. Initially, Emperor Yuan believed him, but took no action against Shi and Wulu. Shi and Wulu soon found out and fought back by accusing Jing of conspiring with Emperor Yuan's brother Liu Qin,

576-818: A major role in governing the country, given the forceful nature of his father. He was taught the Confucian classics by a succession of Confucian scholars during his pre-teen and teenage years. Prince Shi became a mild-mannered and strict adherent of Confucian principles, unlike his father who made effective use of both Legalist and Confucian principles in his governance. This would bring his father's ire on him. In 53 BC, when Emperor Xuan and Prince Shi were having dinner, he suggested that Emperor Xuan employ more Confucian officials in key positions. Emperor Xuan became extremely angry and commented that Confucian scholars were impractical and could not be given responsibilities, and further commented that Emperor Yuan's reign would lead to

640-483: A mid-level office, along with Zhou's student Zhang Meng (張猛, a grandson of the great explorer Zhang Qian ). Despite the relatively low positions that Zhou and Zhang had, their advice was highly valued by Emperor Yuan. In 44 BC, he promoted the highly regarded Confucian scholar Gong Yu ( 貢禹 ), who tried not to engage himself in factional politics, to the position of vice prime minister, and heeded many of his suggestions to further reduce governmental spending and to encourage

704-418: A policy of befriending Xiongnu and resisting Han, particularly because Luolan's geographical location meant that it was often ordered by Han to escort its imperial messengers, who were also rude to Loulan officials. Huo sent an imperial messenger, Fu Jiezi ( 傅介子 ) to assassinate Angui. Fu accomplished this by claiming that he was there to reward Xiyu kings with jewels and other precious items, and then, setting

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768-616: A positive one, however. In 77 BC, a controversial incident involving the Xiyu (modern Xinjiang and former-Soviet central Asia ) kingdom of Loulan (on northeastern edge of the Taklamakan Desert ) would unfold itself, although whether Emperor Zhao played any role in the decision-making is unclear. A few years earlier, the King of Loulan had died, and with Xiongnu support, one of his sons, Angui ( 安歸 ) succeeded him, and Angui started

832-530: A private meeting up with Angui, he stabbed him in the heart, and then, warning that any further action would bring a large Chinese army, he got the Loulan nobles to submit and make a brother of Angui, Weituqi ( 尉屠耆 ), who was friendly to Han, king. Loulan was renamed Shanshan . (This incident was controversial in Chinese history in that many historians believed that this was one incident in which an assassination of

896-430: A rebellion from his Principality of Yan (roughly modern Beijing ). The conspiracy was discovered, but Prince Dan was not punished, although the other conspirators were executed. Later that year, Jin, a moderating influence in the co-regency, after being created a marquess on his sickbed, died. Huo and Shangguan were subsequently created marquesses as well. In the next few years, Shangguan, unhappy with his lesser role in

960-512: A rebellion, forming a conspiracy with two imperial clan members, Liu Zhang ( 劉長 ) and Liu Ze ( 劉澤 ). The plan was for them to accuse Emperor Zhao of being not actually Emperor Wu's son, and then for Liu Ze, a grandson of a former prince of Qi, to start a rebellion in Linzi (in modern Linzi District , Shandong ), the former capital of the Principality of Qi, while Prince Dan would then start

1024-404: A stroke, and Shi Xian found an opportunity to falsely accuse Zhang of crimes and forced him to commit suicide. In 37 BC, another Confucian scholar would try to shake the influence of Shi Xian. He was Jing Fang ( 京房 ), who, in addition to studying Confucianism, was also an accomplished fortune teller . (At this time, fortune telling was still considered to be a part of Confucian studies, indeed,

1088-675: A subject and received Han assistance. Chanyu Zhizhi, then the stronger of the two, tried to maintain a détente with Han by sending his son Juyulishou ( 駒于利受 ) to the Han court, but was not so willing to submit, and soon found himself out-powered by the Han-assisted Huhanye. In 49 BC, the last year of Emperor Xuan's reign, Chanyu Zhizhi headed north-west and conquered several Xiyu kingdoms, basing his capital in Jiankun (modern Altay, Xinjiang ). From there, he frequently attacked one of

1152-455: A traditional enemy of Kangju . They repeatedly inflicted heavy victory appon victory against the Wusun over the course several years. In 36 BC, two Han commanders, Gan Yanshou ( 甘延壽 ) and his lieutenant Chen Tang ( 陳湯 ), took the initiative start a war on Zhizhi. Zhizhi, after winning many victories over the Wusun and other Xiyu kingdoms, had become exceedingly arrogant, and treated his ally,

1216-415: A trap for Zhizhi, by pretending that they were running low on supplies, to ward off the possibility that Zhizhi would flee. Zhizhi took the bait and stayed in his capital. The coalition forces soon arrived at his capital and besieged it later killing Chanyu Zhizhi in the subsequent battle . After this Chanyu Huhanye made an official visit to the Han capital of Chang'an in 33 BC and formally asked to become

1280-441: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Emperor Yuan of Han However, at the same time that he was solidifying Confucianism 's position as the official ideology, the empire's condition slowly deteriorated due to his indecisiveness, his inability to stop factional infighting between officials in his administration, and the trust he held in certain corrupt officials. He

1344-450: The Han borders, and let him travel the remaining journey on his own. Gu reasoned that by escorting Juyilishou all the way to Jiankun, he might be able to persuade Zhizhi to submit, and that he was willing to risk his own life to do so. Emperor Yuan agreed and Gu escorted Juyilishou to Jiankun. Chanyu Zhizhi was not impressed and had Gu executed. Zhizhi then realized that he made a major mistake, and he allianced with Kangju to conquer Wusun ,

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1408-504: The Han's ally, the Wusun . In 44 BC, Chanyu Zhizhi sent an ambassador to offer tributes to Han, but at the same time demanded that Han deliver his son Juyilishou back to him. Emperor Yuan commissioned a guard commander, Gu Ji ( 谷吉 ), to escort Juyilishou. Initially, based on advice from Gong and other key officials, who reasoned that Zhizhi had no real intention to submit and was far away, Emperor Yuan instructed Gu to escort Juyilishou only to

1472-502: The Huos had murdered Empress Xu, which led him to begin stripping the Huos of actual power, while giving them impressive titles. In 66 BC, after there had been increasing public rumours that the Huos had murdered Empress Xu, Lady Xian finally revealed to her son and grandnephews that she had, indeed, murdered Empress Xu. In fear of what the emperor might do if he had actual proof, Lady Xian, her son, her grandnephews, and her sons-in-law formed

1536-412: The Prince of Huaiyang, and Prince Qin's uncle. As a result, Jing was executed. Around the same time, despite Emperor Yuan's general tendency for pacificism, a military confrontation had developed with one branch of Xiongnu , which had split into competing courts ruled by Chanyus Huhanye in the east and Zhizhi in the west. During Emperor Xuan's reign, Chanyu Huhanye had officially submitted to Han as

1600-436: The banks of Lake Balkhash ) had only recently been built and lacked strong defences, his plan was to use the colonization forces that the Han army had in Xiyu as well as Wusun forces to advance to and capture Zhizhi's capital. Gan agreed with his plan and wanted to request approval, but Chen feared that civilian officials would disapprove of this plan. Therefore, when Gan fell sick, Chen forged of imperial edicts and requisitioned

1664-430: The co-regency, tried to gain more power over Huo, even though the two had previously been great friends, and Huo had given his daughter in marriage to Shangguan's son Shangguan An ( 上官安 ). The young couple had a daughter, who was age five in 84 BC, when Shangguan Jie wanted to marry her to the emperor. Huo initially refused, believing her to be too young. Shangguan Jie turned elsewhere for support of his plan. Shangguan An

1728-483: The colonization military forces as well as forces of the other kingdoms that submitted to Han authority. Once Gan recovered, he tried to reverse Chen's actions, but Chen warned him that it was too late to do so. They then set out (after submitting reports admitting to forging edicts but providing the reasons for doing so), marching along two routes, one force taking a route through Dayuan and the other through Wusun. The forces rejoined when they entered Kangju . They then set

1792-655: The court faction further pressed Xiao into committing suicide. They did this by tricking Emperor Yuan into deciding to have Xiao investigated for inducing his son to make a petition for him, something considered inappropriate. Hong and Shi calculated that Xiao would rather commit suicide than face an investigation, and that was what Xiao did. As a result, the court faction prevailed. Consistent with his personality, Emperor Yuan rebuked Hong and Shi harshly for misleading him and buried Xiao with great honour, but did not punish Hong (who died later that year) and Shi. In 46 BC, Emperor Yuan summoned Zhou back to his administration and gave him

1856-491: The crown prince. He therefore resolved to making an empress who was childless and kind. He decided on the gentle Consort Wang , and made her empress in 64 BC. Emperor Xuan put Prince Shi in her care, and she cared for him well. Empress Wang would have a role in Crown Prince Shi's eventual choice of a wife. In the middle of the 50s BC, Consort Sima, the favourite consort of Prince Shi, died from an illness. Prince Shi

1920-530: The downfall of the Liu imperial clan, words that would turn out to be prophetic. This would also bring his father to consider changing the succession plans, as he was also disappointed by Prince Shi's general lack of resolve. He considered making Prince Shi's younger brother, Liu Qin, the Prince of Huaiyang , crown prince instead. However, he could not bring himself to do so, remembering how Prince Shi's mother, Empress Xu,

1984-459: The emperor and their key roles in processing reports and edicts for Emperor Yuan. Policy-wise, the Confucian faction advocated returning to the ancient policies of the early Zhou dynasty , while the court faction advocated keeping the traditions of the Han dynasty. In 47 BC, Hong and Shi used procedural traps which led to Zhou and Liu being demoted to commoners and Xiao retired. Later that year,

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2048-442: The empire's coffers. Emperor Zhao, under the tutelage of Huo, took the initiative and lowered taxes as well as reducing government spending. As a result, citizens prospered and the Han dynasty enjoyed an era of peace. Emperor Zhao died after reigning for 13 years, at the age of 20. He was succeeded by Liu He, Prince of Changyi . In 94 BC, then Prince Fuling was born to a favourite concubine of Emperor Wu, Zhao Jieyu (趙婕妤), who carried

2112-477: The fate of the other Confucian scholars, entered into an alliance with Shi Xian to ensure his own safety and power. In 40 BC, more unusual signs occurred and Emperor Yuan asked the court faction to explain how they could continue to occur if, as they alleged, they were signs of divine disapproval of Zhou and Zhang. They could not, and so Emperor Yuan summoned Zhou and Zhang back to the capital to serve as advisors. However, this would not last long, as Zhou soon died of

2176-439: The heart to turn in his wife, instead agreed to Chunyu's release. In April 70 BC, Emperor Xuan made Huo Chengjun empress. Accustomed to luxury living, her palace expenditures far exceeded the late Empress Xu. Huo Chengjun becoming empress was a threat to Prince Shi's life. On 24 May 67 BC, Emperor Xuan made the eight-year-old Prince Shi into Crown Prince and awarded Empress Xu's father and Prince Shi's grandfather, Xu Guanghan,

2240-446: The intercession of Shi Dan, who risked his life by stepping onto the carpet of the imperial bed chamber, an act that only the empress was allowed to do (on pain of death) led Emperor Yuan to cease those thoughts. When Emperor Yuan died in 33 BC, Crown Prince Ao ascended the throne (as Emperor Cheng). Consorts and Issue: Emperor Zhao of Han Emperor Zhao of Han ( Chinese : 漢昭帝 ; 94 – 5 June 74 BC), born Liu Fuling (劉弗陵),

2304-479: The king of Kangju , as a subject, he even executed king Kangju 's daughter, who had been married to him as part of the alliance. He also forced the other kingdoms in the region, including the powerful Dayuan , to pay him tribute. Chen felt that Chanyu Zhizhi would eventually become a major threat and devised a plan to eliminate him. Reasoning that Zhizhi was a powerful warrior but lacked the affection to kingdoms that subjected to him, and also that his new capital (on

2368-608: The merchants to benefit from the profits of these essentials. The people started to recover from the heavy burdens that Emperor Wu's wars had left on them. In 80 BC, the ongoing conflict between Huo and Shangguan Jie came to a head. The Shangguans, wanting to reward Ding for his role in setting up the marriage between Empress Shangguan and Emperor Zhao, sought to have him created a marquess, but were rebuffed by Huo, as were their subsequent efforts to have Ding made an important official. This caused Princess Eyi to resent Huo as well. The Shangguans, Princess Eyi, Prince Dan of Yan, and Sang (who

2432-531: The mother of his first-born son, Prince Ao, empress. On 17 June 47 BC, he made Prince Ao crown prince. In 46 BC, alarmed at the high human and monetary cost of occupying Hainan and suppressing the frequent native rebellions, Emperor Yuan decreed that the two commanderies on the island be abandoned. Similarly, in 40 BC, alarmed at the high cost of maintaining imperial temples, he reduced the number of standing temples. Early in Emperor Yuan's administration

2496-498: The regent, Huo Guang 霍光, having been dissatisfied with his initial selection of Prince He of Changyi, deposed Prince He and offered the throne to the commoner Bingyi instead. Bingyi accepted and took the throne as Emperor Xuan. Shi's mother Xu Pingjun was made empress. This action would cost Empress Xu her life, however, and cost Prince Shi his mother. Huo Guang's wife, Xian ( 顯 ), would not be denied her wish of making her daughter Huo Chengjun ( 霍成君 ) an empress. In 71 BC, Empress Xu

2560-399: The report was given to Emperor Zhao, the 14-year-old Emperor Zhao took no action on it. The next day, he summoned Huo to the palace and exonerated him, reasoning that the actions that Huo was accused of had happened so recently that Prince Dan, a long distance away, could not have possibly known about them, and therefore the report must have been a forgery. At this point, the anti-Huo conspiracy

2624-498: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Gaozong . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaozong&oldid=1229345538 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Temple name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing Chinese-language text Short description

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2688-416: The same year, at the suggestion of Du Yannian ( 杜延年 ), Huo started considering terminating some of the policies of Emperor Wu intended to raise revenues for the war efforts. In 81 BC, after a major debate between proponents (the chief among whom was vice prime minister Sang Hongyang ) and opponents of the state monopolies on salt, iron, and wine, the wine and iron monopolies were abolished, once again allowing

2752-663: The seed of dissatisfaction was sown. As the princes grew older, Emperor Yuan and Prince Kang became closer. They shared a love of and skills in music, particularly the playing of drums. Prince Kang also showed high intelligence and diligence, while Crown Prince Ao was known for drinking and womanizing. When Emperor Yuan grew ill during 35 BC, an illness that he would not recover from, Consort Fu and Prince Kang were often summoned to his sickbed to attend to him, while Empress Wang and Crown Prince Ao rarely were. During his illness, apparently encouraged by Consort Fu, Emperor Yuan reconsidered whether he should make Prince Kang his heir instead. Only

2816-405: The son of Empress Wei Zifu . That, in turn, led to conspiracies against Prince Ju and Empress Wei, eventually forcing Prince Ju to pre-emptively rise up in military self-defence in 91 BC. Being misunderstood as a revolt, Prince Ju was defeated and went into exile, and both he and Empress Wei committed suicide soon afterwards. After Prince Ju's death, Emperor Wu was forced to consider who would make

2880-489: The study of Confucianism. In 43 BC, there were a number of unusual astronomical and meteorological signs that were considered signs of divine disapproval. Shi Xian and his allies, the Xu and Shi clans, alleged that this was a sign of divine disapproval of Zhou and Zhang's policies. Zhou and Zhang were demoted to local posts. In 42 BC, he promoted another Confucian scholar, Kuang Heng ( 匡衡 ), to be his key advisor, and Kuang, aware of

2944-460: The teenage Crown Prince Ao was not grieving sufficiently, particularly because Princes Ao and Jing were of similar age and grew up together as playmates, thus showing insufficient respect to Prince Jing. Prince Ao's head of household, Shi Dan ( 史丹 ), a relative of Emperor Yuan's grandmother and a senior official respected by Emperor Yuan, managed to convince Emperor Yuan that Crown Prince Ao was trying to stop Emperor Yuan himself from over-grieving, but

3008-482: The throne as Emperor Yuan. As emperor, Emperor Yuan immediately started a regimen of reducing governmental spending, with the objective of reducing the burdens of the people. He also started a program for social assistance to provide stipends for the poor and also for new entrepreneurs. Contrary to his father's governing philosophy, he relied heavily on Confucian scholars and put them into important governmental positions. In 48 BC, Emperor Yuan made Consort Wang Zhengjun,

3072-513: The throne as Emperor Zhao at the age of 8. Early in Emperor Zhao's reign, Huo, Jin and Shangguan served as co-regents, with the key decisions being made by Huo. The palace was run by Princess Eyi, Emperor Wu's daughter and Emperor Zhao's older sister, who had moved back to the palace to serve as Emperor Zhao's caretaker. Prince Dan of Yan was not happy about the turn in events that led to Emperor Zhao's ascension. In 86 BC, he secretly planned

3136-492: The title Lady Gouyi . Emperor Wu was ecstatic in having a child at his advanced age (62), and because Consort Zhao purportedly had a pregnancy that lasted 14 months, the same length as the mythical Emperor Yao , he named Consort Zhao's palace gate "Gate of Yao's Mother." This led to speculation that the Emperor, in favouring Consort Zhao and Prince Fuling, wanted to make Prince Fuling crown prince instead of Crown Prince Liu Ju ,

3200-414: The title of Marquess of Ping'en. Huo Guang opposed these actions. Huo's wife, Lady Xian was shocked and displeased, because if her daughter ever had a son, why would he only be forever a prince and not the future emperor. She instructed her daughter to murder the crown prince. Allegedly, Empress Huo did make multiple attempts to do so, but failed each time. Around this time, the emperor also heard rumours that

3264-470: Was a friend of Princess Eyi's lover, Ding Wairen ( 丁外人 ). He encouraged Ding to persuade the princess on the soundness of the marriage, reasoning that the Shangguans' power would be firmer with the marriage, and that they could then help Ding legitimize his relationship with Princess Eyi. Princess Eyi agreed, and later in 84 BC, the young Lady Shangguan was appointed as an imperial consort. In 83 BC, she

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3328-426: Was crowned empress. In 82 BC, a man whose appearance was similar to the former Crown Prince Ju suddenly appeared at the palace, claiming that he was in fact Prince Ju and that he was there to claim the throne. He was arrested and shown to be an imposter named Cheng Fangsui ( 成方遂 ), and then executed. Later that year, Shangguan An was created a marquess, and he became extremely arrogant and wild in his behaviour. In

3392-501: Was furious and refused her permission, but because Zhang was Xu's superior, Xu did not dare to renege on the promise. Bingyi and Pingjun were married in a ceremony entirely paid for by Zhang (because Bingyi could not afford the cost). Zhang also paid the bride price . After their marriage, Bingyi heavily depended on his wife's family for support. Shi was less than a year old when something very unusual happened to his father. Shi's great-granduncle, Emperor Zhao (漢昭帝), had died that year and

3456-465: Was grief-stricken and became ill and depressed. Emperor Xuan was concerned, so he had Empress Wang select the most beautiful of the young ladies in waiting and had them sent to Prince Shi. Wang Zhengjun was one of the ladies in waiting chosen. With her, he had his first-born son Liu Ao (劉驁, later Emperor Cheng ) c. 51 BC. Prince Ao became Emperor Xuan's favourite grandson and often accompanied him. During his years as crown prince, Prince Shi did not have

3520-506: Was his cousin-twice-removed Shi, imperial secretary Hong Gong ( 弘恭 ) and chief eunuch Shi Xian ( 石顯 ). Hong Gong and Shi Xian are recorded as being the Emperor's lovers. Yuan gave them both key administrative positions, which eventually proved disastrous as they plotted the deaths of many officials who opposed them. The Confucian faction derived their power from the fact that Emperor Yuan trusted and respected their advice. The "court faction" derived their power from their physical closeness to

3584-438: Was his first love and had been murdered by poisoning, and also how he depended on his father-in-law in his youth. Prince Shi's position therefore was not seriously threatened. In 49 BC, Emperor Xuan became seriously ill. Before his death, he commissioned his cousin-once-removed Shi Gao ( 史高 ), Prince Shi's teacher Xiao Wangzhi ( zh:蕭望之 ), and Xiao's assistant Zhou Kan ( 周堪 ) to serve as regents. After he died, Prince Shi ascended

3648-461: Was not discovered, but many were impressed at the wisdom of the young emperor. Later that year, the conspirators tried again. Their plan was for Princess Eyi to invite Huo to a feast, and then to ambush Huo and kill him, and then depose Emperor Zhao and make Prince Dan emperor. (However, the Shangguans allegedly conspired to instead to have Prince Dan killed once he arrived in the capital, and for Shangguan Jie to declare himself emperor.) The conspiracy

3712-704: Was only six at that time. He therefore also chose a potential regent in Huo Guang , whom he considered to be capable and faithful. He also ordered Prince Fuling's mother, Lady Gouyi , arrested and executed, fearing that she would become an all-powerful and uncontrollable empress dowager, like Empress Dowager Lü . He entrusted Huo with the regency of Fuling. At Huo's suggestion, he also made ethnic Xiongnu official Jin Midi and general Shangguan Jie co-regents. He died on 29 March 87 BC, shortly after creating Prince Fuling crown prince two days earlier. Fuling then succeeded to

3776-489: Was pregnant when Lady Xian came up with a plot. She bribed Empress Xu's female physician Chunyu Yan ( 淳于衍 ), under guise of giving Empress Xu medicine to help ease her pain and control blood flow after she gave birth, to poison Empress Xu. Chunyu did so, and Empress Xu died shortly after she gave birth. Her doctors were initially arrested to investigate whether they cared for the empress properly. Lady Xian, alarmed, informed Huo Guang what had actually happened, and Huo, not having

3840-429: Was resentful that his monopoly system, which he felt to be the key to sound finances for the state, was being dismantled), formed an anti-Huo conspiracy. In 80 BC, Prince Dan sent a report to Emperor Zhao, accusing Huo of improperly exercising imperial authority. The conspirators' plan was that as soon as Emperor Zhao authorised an investigation, Shangguan Jie and Sang would arrest and immediately execute Huo. However, after

3904-541: Was revealed by a servant of Princess Eyi, and the conspirators were arrested and executed with their entire clans. Princess Eyi and Prince Dan committed suicide. Empress Shangguan was spared, however, because of her young age and her status as Huo's granddaughter. After the incident, Huo stamped out anyone who could be considered to be a conspirator, gaining a reputation for autocracy and heavy-handedness. The victims included two ministers, Wang Ping ( 王平 ) and Xu Ren ( 徐仁 ). The relationship between Huo and Emperor Zhao remained

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3968-407: Was succeeded by Emperor Cheng . When Emperor Yuan was born Liu Shi in 75 BC, his parents Liu Bingyi and Xu Pingjun were commoners without titles. Bingyi was a great-grandson of Emperor Wu , and his grandfather Liu Ju was Emperor Wu's crown prince, until Emperor Wu's paranoia forced him into a failed rebellion in 91 BC while Bingyi was still just an infant. The aftermath of the failed rebellion

4032-765: Was that Prince Ju committed suicide and his entire family was executed. Bingyi was spared because of his young age, but became a commoner and survived on the largess of others. One of his supporters was chief eunuch Zhang He, who had been an advisor for Prince Ju before his rebellion, and who was punished by being castrated. Around 76 BC, Zhang wanted to marry his granddaughter to Bingyi, but his brother Zhang Anshi ( 張安世 ), then an important official, opposed his decision, fearing that it would bring trouble to his family. Zhang, instead, invited one of his subordinate eunuchs (who had also been castrated by Emperor Wu), Xu Guanghan ( 許廣漢 ), to dinner, and persuaded him to marry his daughter Xu Pingjun to Liu Bingyi. When Xu's wife heard this, she

4096-480: Was the eighth emperor of the Han dynasty from 87 to 74 BC. Emperor Zhao was the youngest son of Emperor Wu . By the time he was born, Emperor Wu was already 62. Prince Fuling ascended the throne after the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC. He was only eight years old (by East Asian reckoning). Huo Guang served as regent . Emperor Wu's long reign left the Han dynasty greatly expanded; however constant warfare had depleted

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